When architect Jane Kim first encountered this Tribeca attic, the majority of the traces of its origins were not exposed (the early 20th-century construction was formerly a commercial warehouse). Her clients wanted to get that industrial atmosphere back, while keeping an open expansive feel and fitting in 3 full bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. The attic was stripped back down to the raw elements, and spaces were designed to borrow light from different rooms and also to transform from open to private. An interplay between indoor and outdoor architectural elements is a thread that runs across the room. “I think in the entire space there is a sense of referencing the city outside as well as the industrial grade of Tribeca,” Kim says. Here’s a look at how she accomplished this.
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Jane Kim Design
At an earlier renovation, the majority of the original industrial details were covered with paint and gypsum board. “The customer’s desire was to return the space to its original industrial feel and also to strip the substances of all their layers of paint to expose its first condition,” Kim says.
Jane Kim Design
The stripping included eliminating layers of paint in the brick, eliminating gypsum board from the columns and cleaning the cast iron that had been hidden underneath. The wood joists were stripped of paint and sealed. For the floors, “we set up a random width reclaimed oak flooring that reveals its age with nail holes and imperfections,” Kim says.
Jane Kim Design
Reclaimed barn wood, concrete and steel were used from the kitchen to continue this aesthetic. Additionally, a unique glass canopy inspired from the surrounding neighborhood hangs overhead, specifying the kitchen space inside the spacious floor plan.
Jane Kim Design
“The canopy was designed as a means to reference the existing steel awnings that you can still locate in the neighborhood,” Kim says. “We reported that the awnings that hang over the sidewalk at the neighborhood and interpreted a blank design for the kitchen space. The finish is blackened steel and we used a frosted wire safety glass to provide a complementary texture to the space.”
The stainless steel kitchen cabinets are made by Alpes Inox, an Italian business. “Each of the pieces are free-standing, so installation was really easy,” Kim says. “They also made the oven, sink and cooktop.”
Jane Kim Design
A major industrial component in the space is the unique dining table. “It’s a repurposed industrial mill table base from Get Back Inc. in Connecticut, and it works!” Kim says. “It’s beautifully restored; the wheel adjusts the table height exactly as it used to if it had been used in heavy machinery applications.” Get Back Inc. also restored the vintage Toledo industrial chairs you see at the kitchen island.
Jane Kim Design
Salvaged materials extend out of the floors to the table and around the kitchen’s counters and spacious shelves. “A great deal of the substances were reclaimed or corrected to enhance the authentic feel of the space,” Kim says.
Regarding the open shelving, Kim says, “It was a fantastic way to highlight the brick on the walls. For the owner, it was also an issue of advantage to have everything out in the open.”
Hint: utilizing single color dishes and cups with open shelving will help to make the region appear clean and interesting.
Jane Kim Design
The theme of using outdoor road design inside carries through to the bedroom space, in which the hanging globe pendants recall vintage street lamp design. In this picture we see the clear view through the bedroom and out its south-facing windows. “When not entertaining, the proprietor can feel as the bedroom flows to the primary living space without obstruction,” Kim says. The space could be shut off through pocket doors when privacy is needed.
Jane Kim Design
Elements in the kitchen dividers have been replicated in such ten foot tall blackened glass and steel pocket doors, which separate the master bedroom from the primary living space. “The glass is also a frosted cable glass to provide an interesting shadow and texture,” Kim says. “If the doors have been pushed to the wall pocket, then the device has full north and south exposures. In New York, we are always conscious of southern exposures in homes so we can maximize the light.” Even if the doors are shut, light moves through from the master bedroom to the primary living space.
Jane Kim Design
“There was a conscious attempt to emphasize all of the fantastic materials in the space, like the brick and cast iron, therefore when we had been working with painted surfaces, we strove to keep them as simple as you can,” Kim says. A smart, functional solution keeps the master bedroom streamlined and also the focus on the details — a market behind the bed. “The market was a nice way to provide light for reading above the platform bed and also to create an area to display art in the future,” Kim says.
Reclaimed wood absorbs through from the home space. “The builder, Bulson Management, constructed the bed for us of exactly the exact same reclaimed wood we used from the kitchen,” says Kim. All the light switches and sockets were integrated to the face of the bed itself to maintain the walls as clean as you can.
Jane Kim Design
Beyond more glass and steel doors, a very long master bathroom has an existing window at the front end, which is on an axis with all the bed and creates an exaggerated sense of depth. “We ended up putting the sink so that we can eventually set a round mirror over the window to have a nice moment of thickness in the space,” Kim says. “The light fixtures also reinforce this axis in both of the spaces.”
Another vintage Toledo seat made its way into this toilet, boosting the continuity of the aesthetic throughout the whole loft.
Jane Kim Design
The satin nickel tub, the dressing table in the master bathroom and the vast majority of other fittings, like towel bars and lighting, are in Urban Archaeology.
Jane Kim Design
Upon entering the lengthy toilet, the width expands because of the use of clear glass round the shower stall. This keeps things light and open.
Component of the fun of stripping everything down to its first condition was unanticipated discoveries. “You can see a brick arch onto one of the walls of the master bathroom shower,” Kim points out. “We were very excited when we discovered that after shooting down the gypsum board on that wall.”
The rest of the master bathroom shower is lined with mirrored marble slabs found at Olde Good Things in Pennsylvania.
Jane Kim Design
More southern light streams through the window within this second bathroom, where the tub and shower share space at exactly the exact same tiled location.
Jane Kim Design
The ultimate outdoor element utilized inside this attic is in the powder room. It’s a reclaimed architectural aluminum piece, salvaged from a construction in upstate New York. Kim had additional copper pieces fabricated to expand the aluminum over the whole wall. “Because the mirror is at the scale of architecture and is of the scale of an old window opening, you really get the feeling like you’re looking into a different area when you stand facing it,” Kim says. More reclaimed wood forms a simple countertop and the mirror has been based at eye level.
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